Rhia's introduction to the fantasy genre was through the cover art on Anne McCaffery's The White Dragon, and she fell in love with Michael Whelan's artwork. Ms. McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern books introduced her to dragons that were not treasure-coveting, village-burning, knight eating monsters but showed them as friends and protectors of humans. Rhia started drawing at an early age and fell  in love with sculpture in middle school. Digital design and sculpting is a recent phenomenon in her life.

Tod's fascination with fantasy art started with a paperback copy of a Conan novel that he acquired at the inappropriate age of six years old. He was instantly fascinated by the cover art done by none other than the great Frank Frazetta. Tod drew in pencil and charcoal throughout high school but did not start to take art seriously until he left the Marine Corps in 1990. Shortly after that, he was gifted an airbrush. It was love at first stroke.

Though Tod's art is strictly 2D and Rhia's is mostly 3D, there is quite a parallel in how we envision characters and enough differences to keep it interesting. Our collaborations are dynamic, with a free-flowing exchange of ideas and input on the designs - composition, color schemes, character personality, etc.

As artists, we document life. Be it everyday occurrences, a dramatic event, the beauty and ferocity of Nature, or the fantastic images our imaginations conjure.

We do so to invoke an emotional response from our audience. We strive to capture the essence of the moment and bring life and soul back to a blank canvas or lump of clay, be it digital or physical clay. For artists, there is no greater joy than to see a viewer connect with their work, especially knowing that it is a personal experience for each viewer.

Our work, is of course, influenced by the art of our predecessors and our own personal experiences. 
Yet we strive to transcend that in a universal way.

As our body of work grows and we mature, we can look back into a chronological mirror of ourselves and go forward with the knowledge that our artwork will outlast us by decades for future viewers to reflect on and draw their own personal satisfaction or disdain.

From that comes the conclusion:
All we are is what we leave when we pass on.

From the Heart,
Tod Keith and Rhia Shae